Tuesday, April 21, 2026

After Attending a Justin Hayward Concert

The country gentleman walked onto the stage
wearing a white shirt and black trousers,
a red guitar hanging on his every move,
his hair white snow,
his face lined and kind.
It was lovely to see him again.

Bass notes pulled four others, quiet

and unassuming, from behind black curtains,

each adding nuance, accents—

a flute, guitars, electric keys—

though they might have been blue jays

arriving from the neon mountain—

an old album cover—

projected on the theater wall.

 

The acolytes gave him space,

always behind the man

yet always with him,

chiming in, fading, swaying, praying,

invisible incense for the holy notes.

 

Once upon a time

I could reach out and touch the legend of a mind

as it electrified Zen gardens

with a diamond needle raking vinyl

like a monk grooming rock and roll sand.

 

It was my own mind too,

which traveled to the threshold

of a wildest dream, a lost chord,

days of future passed.

I didn’t know that they would last,

that there was to be a second coming

for this son of man, this humble lord.

 

Someone asked him if he missed the others,

longed for the camaraderie of his band.

No, not really.

He said the music was for now,

was intimate, personal, free.

“It’s for you and me,

you and me.”


~William Hammett



Site Map

No comments:

Post a Comment